The school psychology graduate program is approved by the National Association of
School Psychologist (NASP), and accredited by the National Council for Accreditation
of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction
(NCDPI).

The SSP degree clearly reflects the fact that the requirements for graduation from
the School Psychology Program at WCU are more intensive than would be expected for
a Masters degree. The program is 72 hours long and requires 3 years of course work,
thesis work, practicum experiences, and internship experiences. The SSP is a terminal
degree which means that the students do not earn a Masters degree on the way to getting
the SSP. The program is cognitive-behavioral and based on a child advocacy model.
In this model, the needs of the child are at the center of all activity engaged in
by the school psychologist. Our students are trained to facilitate growth in development,
behavior, and learning of children and youth.

AdmissionAll applications and supporting materials are submitted online. When the Graduate
School has received the completed online file, the Department of Psychology is notified
for action.

Financial AidThe Psychology Department is very aggressive at seeking out Graduate Assistantships
for students entering the psychology graduate programs. Every year the Graduate school
also offers a limited number of in-state and out-of-state tuition reimbursements that
are distributed based on GRE and undergraduate GPA scores. In the past few years,
most of the out-of-state graduate students in the psychology department have received
some sort of tuition reimbursement. Our students are also very competitive for scholarship
funds available through the Graduate School.